# permaculture

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #56,971

## Definitions
1. Any system of sustainable agriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems.
2. The design, installation and maintenance of indefinitely sustainable human communities set in balanced ecologies, both urban and rural.

## Etymology
Blend of permanent + agriculture, coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978. For a long time Bill Mollison claimed to have copyrighted the word; this was never the case, as copyright law is not applicable to single words.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/permaculture